Machines Go to Work in the City

by William Low, William Low (Illustrator)

Overview

Toddlers love machines and things that go, and this book gives them everything they want, from a bucket truck to a tower crane to an airplane. Every other spread has an interactive gatefold which extends the original picture to three pages, revealing something new about each situation.

The last spread diagrams each city machine, providing additional information for young readers to pore over again and again.

William Low's classically-trained artist's eye adds a new layer to this genre, and both parents and children will appreciate the beautiful illustrations, the attention to detail, and the clever situational twists revealed by lifting the flaps.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780805090505
Publisher:	Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication date:	06/05/2012
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	8.20(w) x 10.20(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD560L (what's this?)
Age Range:	2 - 6 Years

About the Author

William Low has had a lifelong fascination with machines. He is the author and illustrator of Machines Go to Work, Chinatown, and Old Penn Station (a New York Times Best Illustrated Book). Mr. Low is a four-time silver medal winner at the Society of Illustrators. He teaches at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.

Editorial Reviews

Thoughtful design, dynamic art, and solid information make this a standout…” —Booklist, starred

“Another dynamic picture book for children who devour books about machinery or for those fascinated with lift-the-flap materials.” —School Library Journal, starred

“Young readers who love these powerful machines will find endless fascination here.” —Kirkus

“Books don't get much better than this for machinery-loving preschoolers.” —Horn Book, starred

“Here is a fine picture book for little boys who have an innate love of machinery and the noises that big machines make. In fact, the richly colored pages of ‘Machines Go to Work' probably could not be more exactly calibrated to entrance the vehicle-oriented, 2-to-6-year-old male demographic.” —Wall Street Journal on Machines Go to Work

“This design, along with terrific sound effects, encourages listeners to join in the reading. . . . Low's digital art brightly colors each page with slightly impressionistic tones. Let these machines do all the work; the reading about them is pure pleasure.” —The Horn Book Magazine, starred review on Machines Go to Work

“Surprising use of color (a railroad crossing sign lights up against a swirling lavender backdrop) make the mechanical subject matter, always a favorite, spring off the page.” —Publishers Weekly on Machines Go to Work

“A fun and feisty tour of big, powerful and fascinating machines; each of them is ready, willing and eager to ‘go to work.' . . . The illustrations have a bright, active and brushy effect, and they incorporate a pleasing palette that is heavy on bold primary colors. Low knows what works for kids who like their machines big and busy.” —Kirkus Reviews on Machines Go to Work

“This well-constructed picture book is a surefire hit.” —School Library Journal, starred review on Machines Go to Work

“Combining the excitement of powerful machines in action with reminders of how they help humans, Low adds a surprising dimension to the familiar story of vehicles at work. Children mesmerized by the vrooming motion will be drawn by the unframed, double-page spreads and big flaps that open to show overviews and close-ups of trucks, trains, and boats.” —Booklist on Machines Go to Work

“With glorious saturated colors, William Low demonstrates how various vehicles and vessels keep a community operating efficiently.” —Kirkus Reviews on Machines Go to Work

From the Publisher

PreS-Gr 2—This sequel to Low's Machines Go to Work (Holt, 2009) starts with a garbage truck making its rounds and concludes with a foldout aerial view of a plane in flight. In between, workers lay new train tracks, a vacuum truck pumps water out of a tunnel, and a bucket truck and repair crew fix a broken traffic signal. A tower crane lifts a giant beam, and a baggage carrier helps to load a plane. Generously filled with questions, the clear, readable text encourages readers' participation. Richly colored, realistic spreads portray a busy city and follow the course of the day from sunrise to sunset. In this book, Low tends to show more interaction between humans and machinery. The illustrations increase in size when flaps are lifted; this additional artwork responds to questions embedded in the text. Smaller, labeled images are repeated on three closing pages. These images are paired with concise descriptive paragraphs reiterating the purposes of the machines. Another dynamic picture book for children who devour books about machinery or for those fascinated with lift-the-flap materials.—Lynn Vanca, Freelance Librarian, Akron, OH

School Library Journal

Trains, planes, trucks and cranes and the people who make them work keep the city moving. "Vroom" goes the garbage truck as it lumbers through town and finishes up at the landfill. The train's brakes "pssssshhhhh" as it passes slowly by the track workers. A vacuum truck, a bucket truck, a tower crane, a baggage carrier and a passenger plane all do their heavy work with their dedicated and skilled operators and support workers. Maintaining and expanding upon the format he employed in his earlier work (Machines Go to Work, 2009), Low presents each vehicle, with an appropriate onomatopoetic sound, in two double-page spreads wherein a simply stated question is posed with the answer appearing on a gate-fold that enlarges the view even further. The machines and workers are sharply focused, large-scaled, detailed and brightly hued, while the city backgrounds are more subtly imagined in softer shades of yellows, purples and browns. When the busy day ends, the plane takes off and soars over a sunset-drenched New York City as nighttime lights begin to twinkle. In an addendum, carefully labeled, smaller-scaled versions of the machines appear with further information in more sophisticated language, a welcome aid to parents in answering the inevitable detail-seeking questions. Young readers who love these powerful machines will find endless fascination here. (Informational picture book. 3-8)

Kirkus Reviews